Lannan (6-6), who was knocked out of his previous start, July 8 against
Colorado, after taking a line drive to the face, allowed five hits and a pair
of runs. He's 4-0 in five starts against the Braves since the beginning of the
2010 season.

"I just felt confident out there tonight, just tried to get past what happened
last Saturday," Lannan said. "That was the main thing. I felt comfortable out
there. I didn't have the sinker location that I wanted, but my offspeed
pitches helped me out a little bit."

Lannan was hitless in 32 at-bats this season coming into Saturday's game, but
went 2-for-3. He was a career 0.83 (16-for-192) hitter entering the contest
with five RBI.

"I don't know what to say about that," Lannan said. "We have been taking a lot
of BP [batting practice]. I've just been struggling up there. I wasn't really
ever a really good hitter, but some days you just get pitches to hit."

Wilson Ramos belted a two-run homer and had three RBI for the Nationals, who
were blown out, 11-1, in the opener of this series Friday night.

Tommy Hanson (10-5) saw his five-decision winning streak snapped, as he was
charged with eight hits and five runs over 5 1/3 innings. Hanson, who compiled
eight strikeouts, lost for the first time since May 27 against Cincinnati.

"I made some mistakes and didn't get away with them," Hanson said. "I felt
like I threw the ball pretty well. When I did make a mistake they whacked it.
I don't think I was as crisp as I'd like to be. I just missed some spots, a
couple balls found the hole and that blow was the two-run homer there in the
end."

Alex Gonzalez smacked a two-run homer for Atlanta, which had won six of its
previous eight games.

One night after becoming the third franchise in Major League Baseball history
to reach 10,000 victories, the Braves totaled five hits and committed a pair
of errors.

Michael Morse doubled to left and Rick Ankiel drew a one-out walk in what
became a three-run second inning. Ramos then lined a one-hop double over the
wall in right field. Ian Desmond walked, leading to Lannan's grounder into
center field that plated two more runs.

Gonzalez homered to left with Dan Uggla on base in the bottom of the second,
but the Nationals expanded their lead in the sixth inning. Ankiel singled and
Ramos followed by crushing his ninth homer of the year to left on a 1-1 pitch.

Atlanta placed runners on first and second with one out in the bottom half,
but couldn't come through in the clutch. Ryan Mattheus got Gonzalez to ground
into a force play to end the threat.

The Braves didn't have a base runner the final three frames. Drew Storen
pitched the ninth for his 24th save.

Game Notes

Lannan is 7-4 lifetime against the Braves. Washington has won 10 of his last
13 starts...Nationals rookies Danny Espinosa and Ramos have combined on 25
home runs this season. No club has more long balls from its rookies...A man
dressed in a wedding dress ran into the outfield in the bottom of the eighth
inning. He was tackled by security officials.

79roots

WASHINGTON: 5ATLANTA: 2Final

Jul 16 10:12 PM

79roots

Wilson Ramos none-out, two-run Home Run (9) to left scored Rick Ankiel. Ian Desmond due up.